Jagerbomb, the highest ranked dressage horse at the World Cup Final, carefully watching his first step on to America. © 2026 Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
FORT WORTH, Texas, April 3, 2026–The first 31 dressage and jumping horses for the World Cup Finals arrived Friday to prepare for the annual championships being held here for the first time.
The horses from 21 nations in Europe, Asia, Australasia and South America flew in on a Qatar Airways jet.
Top dressage horses on the flight included Jagerbomb, the 12-year-old gelding that was bred by Becky Moody and that she competed on the British bronze medal team at the 2024 Paris Olympics and for team silver at the European Championships last year.
So, too, was Touchdown, the 14-year-old Swedish gelding that Patrik Kittel rode to the title in 2024.
Horses that are already in the U.S., most qualifying or having competed on the Florida and California winter circuits, will arrive by ground transport over the weekend.
Among three U.S. combinations, all based in Wellington, Florida and still to arrive, is Christian Simonson who placed atop the North American league with Indian Rock for the 23-year-old rider’s first senior championship.
Kevin Kohmann of Wellington shares an historic mark with Dünensee for the pair’s third consecutive Final to match a show run of Laura Graves on Verdades. Benjamin Ebeling also based in Wellington is bringing Bellena to fill an extra starting place.
Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu will be the first Canadian dressage representative in 13 years when she shows Jaccardo.
Missing, however, are the top four ranking dressage riders–Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Mount St. John Freestyle, Justin Verboomen on Zonik Plus, Isabell Werth on Wendy de Fontaine and Charlotte “Lottie” Fry on Glamourdale. Most have cited the stress on the horses of a round trip trans-Atlantic flight in a year of the World Championships.
The dressage horse Heiline’s Danders that was to be ridden by Carina Cassøe Krüth of Denmark did not arrive on the flight from Europe.
The first horses off the flight were LL Lorde ridden by Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and Double Jeu D’Honvault competed by Gregory Wathelet of Belgium. © Ken Braddick/Jumper-News.US
Fort Worth is the third U.S. city to host the World Cups this century, beginning with the first joint Finals that were staged in Las Vegas in 2005.
That city was a favorite of competitors, owners, spectators and the media for its restaurants, entertainment and glamor that led to it repeating as host in 2007, 2009 and 2015. Omaha, Nebraska took over in 2017 and 2023.
Tim Dutta, whose Dutta Corp. has been the official air carrier for all of this century’s World Cups in the U.S. has sought transparency in showing the conditions and treatment of horses while flying to competitions around the world.